Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 26
A six-member team from the United Naga Tribes Association of Border Areas (UNTABA) on Sunday evening left for New Delhi seeking appointments with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The team, if and when granted appointment with Modi, is expected to appraise the PM of the unresolved border tussle between Nagaland and Assam that claimed numerous lives on both sides over the years.
UNTABA chairman Hukavi T Yepthomi told newsmen, prior to their departure from Dimapur, that the team intends to “demand” the Modi government to “implement” and honour the contents of the 9-point Agreement and the 16-point Agreement.
He said the UNTABA delegation would also remind Modi that “any border demarcation (between Nagaland and Assam) can be undertaken only by the Parliament and not by any court (of law).”
Yepthomi made it clear that unless the demarcation of border is carried out based on the “traditional and historical” rights of the Nagas”, the people of Nagaland would never accept the disturbed area tag, which he said, has been declared unilaterally by the Assam government.
He informed that the proposed meeting with the Prime Minister has been facilitated by the office of the Chief Minister of Nagaland. “By meeting the Prime Minister, we are trying to substantiate the policies of the State government,” he said.
Yepthomi reiterated that the government of Assam has, over the years, repeatedly flouted the interim agreements signed between the latter and the government of Nagaland, by setting up numerous police outposts and allowing “people of questionable origin” to be settled in the disputed areas.
“We will no longer recognize the Disturbed Area tag which the Assam government has declared unilaterally. And we will no longer accept or abide by any interim agreements signed between Nagaland and Assam,” he said maintaining that Nagas have always kept their end of the bargain.
Yepthomi said the government of Nagaland has accepted the UNTABA’s “initiative” to take up the border issue “in the right perspective.” Another member of the delegation pointed out that Nagaland has gone through 51 years of statehood without even a proper border demarcation.
Solving this long-standing border row with Assam would also help in finding a “logical conclusion” to the Indo-Naga political talks, Yepthomi reasoned.
Besides Modi and Rajnath, the team is also expected to meet Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and members of the Naga Students Union, Delhi.
